


marmalade (we're making out)

by fiveminutemajor



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, But it's there, M/M, andre the decorater, nate and cale if you really squint, nate manages a gaykery, tyson the baker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:16:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21727615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveminutemajor/pseuds/fiveminutemajor
Summary: in which tyson is really, really good at baking, and jt is really, really bad at talking to his crush.alternativelytyson makes cupcakes and jt compliments his ass
Relationships: J. T. Compher/Tyson Jost, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nathan MacKinnon/Cale Makar
Comments: 3
Kudos: 111





	marmalade (we're making out)

**Author's Note:**

> title from tongue tied by grouplove
> 
> i really have a problem with writing mediocre fics
> 
> maybe i heard one line in that song and wrote a whole fic about it

Tyson doesn’t hate the ridiculously early mornings. They’re a small price to pay for the few hours of solitary bliss he gets. Every day, from four am to seven, when the bakery opens, Tyson gets to do what he loves the most without any distractions. It’s really done wonders for his mental health.

Baking is like meditation for Tyson. Everything is exact and there’s no need to think about anything unless he’s making a new recipe. New recipes require a lot of precise calculations and meticulous note-taking as well as a bucketload of creativity to make it new and different. Tyson usually isn’t in the mood for all that, but occasionally he wants to mess around and try something.

The day he decides to try and make orange marmalade cupcakes is the day Tyson thinks he’s lost his mind. He had all the day’s necessities already done or baking with an hour to spare before anyone would be at the bakery, so he had that brilliant idea. 

Tyson’s not bad at baking, in fact he’s damn incredible at it, it’s his job and everything. But these marmalade cupcakes are giving him hell. Everything that could go wrong goes wrong. First, Tyson forgets to lock the stand mixer (a rookie mistake he hadn’t made in forever) and batter goes everywhere. After cleaning that up, his second batch of batter ends up way too watery and Tyson doesn’t know how in the hell that happened. When he finally gets an acceptable test batch of six cupcakes in the oven, Andre’s already decorating the first round of sugar cookies.

Andre was one of the bakery’s newer hires and he was fitting in perfectly. He balanced out Nate’s intensity with a lightness that hadn’t been in the kitchen before. Tyson enjoyed working with him, and Andre was great at his job, so that was that. It was nice to have another fun and optimistic person in the back. The only downside of Andre that Tyson could think of is that every single time EJ saw the pair, he would ruffle their hair and say “my favorite curly boys” but that’s not really a downside. 

Anyway, while the cupcakes were baking, Tyson whipped up some chocolate-nutmeg buttercream that would pair nicely with the cupcakes. Thankfully, he got through that without a hitch. After taking the cupcakes out of the oven, Tyson joked around with Andre while letting them cool.

“You should let me decorate one time. One time that’s it. One cookie.” Tyson poked Andre in the ribs while he flooded a cookie. 

“We both know what happens when you decorate, Tys.” Andre looked at him with a half-disappointed, half-amused expression.

“It wasn’t that bad. It was still edible.”

“That’s because you baked it, and you have a giant sweet tooth so you could handle the disgusting amount of royal icing you put on that poor cookie.”

“Okay, you got me there. I probably got a cavity from that.” Tyson said, poking Andre yet again.

“I know what this is, Tys, what do you want from me?”

“Could you please frost my test cupcakes? Pretty please? I want them to be pretty to distract from the fact that they probably taste terrible.” 

“Only if I get to have one, and nothing you bake is terrible.” Andre said, sticking his tongue out cheekily.

“One for you, one for me, one for Nate because you know he’s gonna want one, and three for samples. I can do that.” 

“You’re not gonna save one for EJ when he comes in?”

“No! He doesn’t get a test cupcake because the last time I tested a cookie recipe he said he loved it and I found half of it in the trash later.” Tyson pouted and crossed his arms.

“Okay, but is sad and jealous EJ better than the cupcake ending up in the garbage?”

“Yes!” Andre looked at him pointedly. “Okay, fine. One for you, me, Nate, and EJ, and two for samples. Just frost them please.” Tyson grabbed the now-cooled cupcake tray and the bowl of buttercream and set them in front of Andre.

-

Nate had thought the cupcake was great, but that’s what he always says so Tyson doesn’t count his opinion. Andre has said much the same, and he was yet to hear the false praise from EJ. So Tyson had to rely on customer opinions to see if he should continue to perfect this recipe. He brought out the two samples out to the front counter and just his luck. Standing there talking to Gabe was Tyson’s two favorite regulars.

(Gabe was another story. He manned the counter and helped Nate with accounting, but he wasn’t allowed anywhere near the kitchen. He was absolutely awful at baking, but he was good-looking and charismatic, so they kept him around.)

Tyson shoved in front of Gabe and presented the tray with the two cupcakes to the two men standing at the register.

“Take one. It’s on the house, I’m testing out a recipe.” He told them.  
“Uh, okay?” The blond one - Cale, Tyson remembers - took one of the cupcakes gently and bit into it. The ungodly moan he let out made Tyson eternally grateful that Nate wasn’t there to hear it. Cale flushed and blurted out an apology before taking another bite.

“Uh, is that orange?” JT - the other regular - asked.

“Yep!” Tyson replied brightly. “Orange marmalade cupcake with chocolate-nutmeg frosting!”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m good. I don’t like orange-flavored stuff, marmalade’s a big no for me. I prefer jam on my toast.” JT said flatly, and Tyson pulled out his puppy-dog pleading eye that no one could resist.

“Pretty please? I won’t be mad if you hate it, I promise.” JT still looked unsure, but he sighed and grabbed a cupcake.

“You happy?” He asked.

“I won’t be until you try it!” JT made a face at the cupcake but bit into it anyway. By the way, his eyes widened and the groan he held back, Tyson could tell JT enjoyed the cupcake. “I told you! It’s good right?” Tyson sounded more unsure than he would have liked to on that last question, but JT nodded his head rapidly.

“How do you do it? I mean every time we’re in here, you outdo yourself.” JT talked the whole time with a bit of buttercream on the tip of his nose and Tyson had to stop himself from reaching out and wiping it off.

“Uhh, I’m not really sure?” Tyson shrugged grabbed the tray from the counter. “I just do what I do and people like it, I guess.”

“People love it, it’s me, I’m people.” Cale said, pulling Tyson’s attention from JT.

“Thanks!” Tyson laughed. “I’ve got to get back to the kitchen, but you can expect more of those cupcakes next time you’re in!” He turned to go back through the doors but JT yelled after him. When Tyson turned around, JT was looking at him and Cale and Gabe were very pointedly looking away.

“Uh, yeah? What can I do for you?” Tyson asked.

“Do you maybe wanna, like, go and get a coffee sometime, maybe? Like as a date?” JT wasn’t meeting his eyes.

“Yeah.” Tyson said softly. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Really? Yeah? Okay!” JT hit him with a rare smile and Tyson went into the kitchen to hide his blush.

-

Later that day, once Tyson was off work and chilling at home on his couch, his phone buzzed with a text. He ignored it, too invested in the newest episode of Bake-Off to care. His phone kept buzzing, so Tyson rolled his eyes and grabbed it.

Unknown: hey this is jt  
Unknown: i got your number from cale  
Unknown: i think he got it from nate  
Unknown: i could have just asked nate ig  
Unknown: with the amount that he’s with cale  
Unknown: and *with* cale if you know what i mean  
Unknown: i should probably stop talking now

*Unknown changed to jam toast*

jam toast: sorry lol  
no it’s okay! i realized i forgot to ask for your digits a little too late  
jam toast: who even says digits anymore  
me, i do, you’re just lame  
jam toast: ya okay, i’m the lame one  
you like this lame ass  
jam toast: your ass is anything but lame

Tyson felt his face heat up at that comment, and a small smile found it’s way onto his face.

i’m not a mirror, bud  
jam toast: oof, bud zoned  
jam toast: but i caught you  
jam toast: you like my ass  
you said it first dumbass  
jam toast: ya but you said it back so  
jam toast: *gasp* does that mean you like me?  
ofc i like you, idiot  
why else would i have said yes to coffee  
jam toast: oh right  
jam toast: the shock kinda made my memory a little fuzzy

Tyson highly doubted that, but he played along.

the shock?  
jam toast: the shock that a cute boy actually likes me back  
u think i’m cute awww

Tyson felt his heart speed up a bit and his face get redder.

jam toast: you’re adorable dude  
oof dude zoned  
jam toast: shut up  
coffee tomorrow? i get off at noon  
jam toast: yeah. yeah cool. i’ll see you tomorrow :)  
;) ;)

Tyson let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and leaned back into the couch. He had a date with the guy he’d been crushing on since he’d first shown up at the bakery. He’s not even close to lying. The first time Tyson had seen JT, he wanted to like, kiss him or whatever. 

Tyson told him as much at their coffee date.

The beard burn was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for sitting through that whole thing! i appreciate it!
> 
> yeehaw lads


End file.
